Police said the boy was found in West Haven on Thursday morning, and officers later found his mother sleeping nearby in a dirty motel room with three other children under 12. State officials took custody of all four children.

Thirty-year-old April Pardy of Jacksonville, Fla., was charged with felony risk of injury to a minor and allowing an unsupervised child in a public place. She is detained on $5,000 bail. It's not clear if she has a lawyer.

Police say the motel room was littered with garbage, old food and dirty diapers. They say they also found a dog and a ferret in the room.